


m4m

by iwillnotbecaged



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 05:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6741199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillnotbecaged/pseuds/iwillnotbecaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <strong>national mall jogger - m4m</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>  <em>You were jogging at sunrise around the National Mall, I was “on your left”. You sat under a tree after your run, and I was going to come talk to you, but I chickened out. In all honesty, I’ve seen you there a few times before, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to strike up a conversation. </em></p><p>  <em>If you don’t hate me too much for trolling you, I’d love to meet up with you under that tree after your run on Saturday...if that’s what you call running ;)</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	m4m

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone on tumblr who helped me brainstorm ideas, SD_Ryan and pringlesaremydivision for the read through, and the local radio station for reading missed connections on the air and giving me the idea (and yes, the dog park one was one of the ones they read, and yes, I also thought it sounded like a fic).

Sam loved Sunday mornings. Sunday mornings meant not setting an alarm, not getting dressed, and making breakfast with Sarah. Occasionally they meant setting an alarm, getting dressed, and going to Gideon’s church, but not this week. This Sunday was for sweatpants, pancakes, and his and Sarah’s weekly tradition: laughing at the missed connections on Craigslist.

He didn’t exactly remember how they started doing it, but reading the missed connections each week had become their thing. Sarah liked laughing at the ones with ridiculous descriptions or quirky stories or that mentioned seeing someone at a place like Burger King. Sam liked the sweet ones; he liked to imagine that despite the odds, the subject had seen the ad and responded, that something great could come from something so silly.

Sarah teased him about being a hopeless romantic, but he didn’t mind. It helped sometimes, amidst all the pain and sorrow in the world, to think about the possibility of nice things happening to people. Whether it was plausible or not didn’t really matter; either way, he looked forward to the time with his sister each week.

They finished their pancakes and Sarah opened up her laptop. Sam shifted over at the table so that they could both see the screen.

Sarah scrolled through the list. “Ooo, this one looks promising!” She read the post out loud:

**super hot redhead - m4w**

_I saw you driving down New York Ave in a sweeeeet Corvette Stingray the other day. We were stopped next to each other at a red light and I tried to meet your eye, but you were looking straight ahead and looked super focused on something. I’d love to take you out and show you a good time, but at the very least, could I get a closer look at your car?_

Sarah cracked up laughing. “That guy has no shot. ‘Could I get a closer look at your car?’ Is he serious?”

“Hey, that line could work if she’s a serious car person.”

“If she’s a serious car person, she probably has no desire to let some rando from the internet look at her car and try to mansplain shit to her. Which I have no doubt is exactly what this guy would do.”

“I see your point. Alright, my turn.”

Sam picked the next one based on the headline - **at the dog park - w4w**

_We met at the dog park when my dog stole your dog’s toy. We ended up hanging out for most of the afternoon, chatting and playing with the dogs. I thought you were beautiful and wanted to get your number, but I wasn’t sure if you were interested. I’ve been kicking myself ever since. If you see this, I hope you’ll give me another chance to be brave._

“Awwwww, that’s so sweet! It’s like 101 Dalmatians, but with lesbians!”

Sarah rolled her eyes at him, but then considered. “You know, that movie actually would be great with lesbians.”

“You think every movie would be great with lesbians.”

“Am I wrong? Lesbian humans and lesbian dogs who adopt a bunch of puppies? I’d watch that.”

“That does sound way more interesting than the original,” Sam conceded. “Alright, pick another one.”

“This one’s about a jogger at the National Mall - maybe it’s for you!”

**national mall jogger - m4m**

_You were jogging at sunrise around the National Mall, I was “on your left”. You sat under a tree after your run, and I was going to come talk to you, but I chickened out. In all honesty, I’ve seen you there a few times before, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to strike up a conversation._

_If you don’t hate me too much for trolling you, I’d love to meet up with you under that tree after your run on Saturday...if that’s what you call running ;)_

“Okay, that’s actually kind of adorable. I bet that guy is all kinds of awkward.”

Sam just kept staring at the computer screen.

“Sam? Earth to Sam?” Sarah waved a hand in front of his face.

“Huh? Oh, um, sorry.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I just— I think that _is_ about me.”

Sarah’s cackled in delight. “No way. Are you for real?” Sam nodded, still looking at the post. “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me! Let me see that again.” She shifted the laptop to reread the post.

“He says that he trolled you. What did he do?”

“He kept passing me, and every single time he did, he would say ‘on your left’. Which is a nice warning and all, but by the third time he did it, it was clear he was taunting me about being slow.”

“Oh my god, and he put ‘on your left’ in the post. This guy is such a little shit — I love him already. Was he cute?”

“Yeah, he was, but I think you’re missing a key fact here. He passed me up at least three times. During my half hour run. He was fast; really, really fast.” Sarah just looked at him blankly. “Like, supersoldier fast.”

Sam watched the realization dawn in Sarah’s eyes. “Holy fucking shit. You got trolled by _Captain America_. And he wanted to talk to you! And he posted about it on Craigslist! I don’t care what you say — you are going to meet up with him like he asked.”

“I can’t — he posted it on Tuesday and said to meet him on Saturday. I missed it.” Sam wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved about that.

“So? We can reply, tell him what happened, and say you’ll be there next week.”

“I don’t know, Sarah—”

“Nope. I’m not letting you avoid this. A national icon thinks you’re cute and you’re gonna meet him and see what he has to say.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me. Now let’s write that email.”

 

Sam kept an eye out during his runs that week, but if Captain America was there, he didn’t see him. On Wednesday, he finally got a response to his email agreeing to meet on Saturday. Sam absolutely positively did not spend the rest of the week worrying about that meeting. Occasionally thinking about what he’s going to wear or what he might talk to Captain America about is not the same as worrying; it’s just preparing.

Or so he tried to convince himself.

When Saturday rolled around, Sam refused to skip his run, no matter what Sarah said. He figured that if he had caught Captain America’s attention while jogging, the guy wouldn’t really care if he was a bit sweaty when they met. Also, he knew how good his calves and ass looked in the shorts he ran in.

He rounded the corner on his last lap and headed towards the tree he liked to sit under after his run. It wasn't until Sam saw him standing there that he realized he hadn’t actually expected him to show up. He was even better looking than Sam remembered.

Sam had seen Captain America on the news plenty of times just like everyone else, but it didn’t really compare to seeing him in person. He was impossibly big, but stood with his shoulders slightly hunched, as if he wasn’t quite sure he was allowed to take up so much space. Bits of sunlight slipped through the shade of the tree and bounced off his blond hair. If Sam had been in a particularly poetic mood, he might have thought it looked a bit like a halo. He had a cup of coffee in each hand, but was staring at the ground, not looking around like Sam expected.

Sam thought about just turning around and leaving for a second, but took a deep breath and squared his shoulders instead. He had flown over a warzone with metal wings strapped to his back; he could talk to Captain America.

“Um, hi there.” Sam shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from fidgeting and waited for him to look up.

“Oh, hi.” Captain America’s eyes widened a little in surprise, but then he just looked at him. Sam suddenly felt off-kilter, unsure of what to say next. “Did you, uh, want to take a selfie or something? ‘Cause we can, but my hands are a little full.” He shrugged.

Sam was confused. Not because Captain America knew what a selfie was (he figured someone was catching him up on things like that), but because Captain America apparently had no idea who he was, even if he was standing under that specific tree with two coffees.

“Um, not exactly. I mean, a selfie would be cool, but that’s not why I’m here.” Captain America’s brow furrowed. “I’m here about the ad on Craigslist?”

“What ad?” He looked kind of like a lost puppy when he made that face, and Sam wanted nothing more than to help him find his way home. Jesus, he was a sap.

“Um, you mentioned trolling me while we were running last week? And said that you wanted to meet me, but had chickened out? And then we arranged to meet up here today?”

“Natasha,” Steve muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. “Look, I’m sorry. My friend must have placed the ad. She’s a bit...overzealous about me meeting people.”

“What, Captain America can’t find his own dates?” 

“Captain America probably could. Steve Rogers, though, that’s a different story.” His shoulders tensed up, and Sam mentally kicked himself. Of course the guy didn’t think of himself as Captain America — that was just a title, not who he really was.

“Well, I don’t know about that. Was it Captain America who was sassing me while we were running, or was that Steve Rogers?”

Steve relaxed slightly and finally met his eyes. “Oh, that was all Steve. Captain America would never stoop so low.” Sam was glad to see the hint of mischief behind Steve’s stoic look.

“In that case, it’s nice to meet you, Steve. I’m Sam.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sam.” Steve smiled and went to offer a handshake, but then seemed to notice he was still holding the two coffee cups. He shrugged. “If I haven’t already wasted too much of your time, it appears that my friend left me with an extra coffee. It’s yours if you want it.”

“Perfect.” Sam reached out and took the coffee from Steve. “Do you want to walk for a bit, or find a place to sit?”

Steve tilted his head, considering. “Walking sounds good.” He started leisurely down the sidewalk. “So, Sam, do you find all your dates on Craigslist?”

Sam laughed. “No, not usually. My sister and I always read the missed connections together. Never actually expected to find one about me. Glad I did, though.” Sam gave Steve his best flirty smile, which was a pretty damn good flirty smile, if you asked him.

Steve smiled back at him. “Internet - so helpful.”

 

Three days after their coffee date, Steve showed up on his doorstep with Natasha and half the city on his tail. Two days after that, Sam was woken from a doze by Steve rasping “on your left.”

Sam turned to Steve and gave him a soft smile. “Glad to see you back with us.”

Steve just grunted in response, shifting into a more comfortable position on the hospital bed.

“So,” Sam began. “Taking down the government and landing yourself in the hospital on a second date — you really know how to spoil a guy.”

Steve huffed a laugh. “I do my best to keep things exciting. And hey,” he nodded at Sam’s wing pack leaning up against the wall. “I even got you a gift. That’s good date etiquette even in the 21st century, isn’t it?”

“I’ll take it.” Sam leaned forward in his chair and reached for Steve’s hand, going slowly to give him plenty of time to pull away. When Steve didn’t, Sam laced their fingers together. “I guess our third date’s gonna be a road trip, huh? We gotta find your friend.”

“That can be the fourth date. As soon as I get out of here, I’m taking you out for dinner.” He gave Sam a smirk that was 100% Steve Rogers, not a hint of Captain America to be found.

Sam grinned back at him. “Oh, that’s how it is?”

“Oooh, that’s how it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi [on tumblr](http://i-will-not-be-caged.tumblr.com)!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] M4M](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13267401) by [Lucifuge5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucifuge5/pseuds/Lucifuge5)




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